Welcome to a new year of action! 2010 will certainly be a critical
year on GM crops and foods here in Canada. GM flax contamination, GM
alfalfa, SmartStax corn, new health critiques, Monsanto’s increased
seed control, GM sugarbeet, and GM wheat are all active issues and
campaigns right now. And the industry has stepped up its PR to sell GM
as the solution to the crises of our time. Please consider your
support to CBAN and our campaigns this year. Stay tuned for new
announcements from CBAN and our Members across Canada. Thank you for
your support and action.

Despite promising the world in 2009, biotech corporations have
increasingly raised the hackles of scientists and citizens worldwide

2009 was a year in which the biotech industry, Gates and their US
Administration allies did everything in their power to drive the world
down the GM road, but it was also a year marked by remarkable global
resistance.

It was a year too in which the truth emerged more clearly than ever
about not just the severe limitations and risks of GM crops, but the
viability of the many positive alternatives to GMOs alternatives from
which the profit-driven GM-fixation diverts much needed attention and
resources.Continue reading →

SACKVILLE, NB — The Organic Trade Association (OTA) in Canada has called the recent discovery of contaminated flax seed in Europe “unacceptable,” and said biotechnology companies must take responsibility for damages caused by their lack of appropriate containment protocols.

The European Commission′s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed has discovered an illegal genetically engineered (GE) trait in German food products, which originated from Canada. Although no organic products have been implicated at this time, the discovery of this unauthorized GE trait in food products is a major concern for the Canadian organic sector, and for consumers around the world. The GE flax in question, called `Triffid,′ was designed specifically to withstand applications of synthetic chemical pesticides.

“It′s time for biotech companies to be good parents and take responsibility for their children. The owners of GE crops need to assume the liability for loss of market access due to their technologies appearing in countries or products in which they are not wanted. As GE products are not permitted under organic standards, the organic sector in Canada is extremely concerned by the prospect of losing access to its essential markets in Europe, Asia and around the world,” said Matthew Holmes, managing director of OTA in Canada.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Canada has not shipped any of its new
flax crop to its top market, the European Union, because of concerns
about genetically modified (GMO) material, the Flax Council of Canada
said on Wednesday.

And the window of opportunity is closing as the crops most important
port nears closure for the winter.

The European Union, which traditionally buys 70 percent of Canadas
flax, first detected GMO material in a Canadian flax shipment in July.There is no GMO flax approved in the EU, where consumers are wary of
long-term GMO effects (smart people I say – April).

Colorado State U – Transgenic Crops Interesting site and articles on all things GE

Parsley’s Notebook A very interesting read about Triffid and GE foods: “Of deep concern is a cavalier attitude representative of irresponsibility that pops up every once in awhile. If human beings are going to experiment with the building blocks of life, of food itself, it is a serious responsibility. Farmers must take it seriously.”

New Resilient GM Flax Contamination from Canada Soars to 28 Countries, Canadian farmers still have no answers. “Someone’s going to have to pay for testing our crops for contamination and any required clean-up. Who will be liable?” “The Canadian government still refuses to consider market harm when they decide to approve GM crops. This obviously has to change immediately,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. “The entire regulatory system needs urgent reform or we will see even more widespread market chaos.” “Farmers face the threat of unwanted contamination from GM crops, even when the crops are not supposed to be grown,” said Arnold Taylor an organic flax grower and Chair of the Organic Agriculture Protection Fund of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate

Martin Mittelstaedt

In the waning days of fall, prairie flaxseed farmers should be hopping onto their tractors and harvesting their crops of the trendy health food, but instead they’re in the midst of a major whodunit, with echoes of a long-forgotten movie thriller.

Somebody has contaminated Canada’s flax crop with trace amounts of a genetically modified variety, whimsically called Triffid after a 1960s horror flick that starred a villainous breed of plants replete with legs, intelligence and a venom-filled stinger.

To keep the Triffids at bay, Europe, which is hypersensitive to all things genetically modified, has slammed the doors on further imports of flaxseed from Canada, threatening a lucrative $320-million annual market for farmers. Already prices for flax have plunged by $2 to $3 a bushel from around $11 before reports of the contamination.

Farmers are mystified about why the Triffids are showing up now. The seeds, developed at the University of Saskatchewan in the 1990s, were never sold commercially in Canada and were all supposed to have been destroyed in 2001. But seeds derived from the university’s plant engineering program are being found all over Europe.